Reader Review: Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots

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The Flaming Lips critically acclaimed album as reviewed by Erik A. Leander.

By IGN Music

Amidst the homogenous vortex of bubblegum pop and angst-ridden teen metal, the unabashedly geeky virtuosos of The Flaming Lips have emerged with an album that recklessly breaks new ground with a bittersweet honesty that anchors their transcendental arrangements in melancholy reflections on postmodern existence. Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots is a brilliant vision of rock's possible future and a revitalizing breath of fresh air for a genre that has fallen from grace.

Utilizing an absolute minimum of traditional rock instrumentals, the Lips' simple acoustics are augmented by complex electronica arrangements that fearlessly glide between soothing ambience and fierce, aggressive beats. Accompanied by Wayne Coyne's disaffected vocals, the result of this rock-techno fusion creates a hypnotic flow of multilayered melody that simultaneously calls to mind the ecstasy of early '70s psychadelia and the electronically driven apathy of Radiohead's most recent venture into similar territory.

Structurally, the album plays out like an ascent into mellow euphoria. All attempts at pop accessibility are dispensed with in the context of the first three tracks, after which the album evolves into a wandering symphony of electronic harmonies. Beginning with "Fight Test," easily the most traditional track on the album, the group parlays a relaxed precedent as they reflect upon personal insecurities, playfully hinting at the detached desperation that ultimately infuses the album's best songs.

As "Fight Test" fizzles out into a string of incomprehensible noise, a heavy beat picks up and seamlessly brings the listener into the far more somber "One More Robot/Sympathy 3000-21," a methodical, bass-driven narrative about robots becoming aware of their own being. While the subject matter might seem superficially silly, the serious treatment hints at a metaphor that will establish the thematic undercurrent of Yoshimi: the legitimacy of human emotion in a universe where man has been rendered insignificant in the context of the infinite.

The title track belies this initial venture into the Lips' psyche with a simple, humorous tale of a girl preparing to war with evil-natured robots. "Part I of Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots" allows the acoustics to briefly take prominence as the electronic harmonies are relegated to the background, but as "Part II" begins, electronica takes charge with a discordant flood of screams, aggressive percussion, and pounding beats.

Though this segue is a bit rough and doesn't beg for repeated listens, it serves its purpose. Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Part II washes the Lips clean of any traditional reliance on pop methodology and serves as a bridge into "The Morning of the Magicians" where the group's absolute brilliance becomes apparent. An existential reflection on the importance of love in a meaningless universe, "The Morning of the Magicians" makes full use of their synths and keyboards to bring the listener to new heights of musical innovation and emotional potency. The sheer beauty and honesty of the song establishes the transcendent ambience and introspective lyrical style that continues into the drifting melancholy of "Ego Tripping At the Gates of Hell," the psychedelic drone of "Are You A Hypnotist?," and the lighthearted irony of "It's Summertime."

At this point, the album comes to its apex with "Do You Realize?," a raging manifesto against the nihilistic angst that pervades the rest of the album. As Coyne gently reflects upon the importance of defying the triviality of human existence, the hauntingly sad vocals are swarmed by the fierce strumming of his guitar and a flurry of intermittent electronic beats.

"Do You Realize" is, quite simply, one of the most devastatingly emotional works of art to come along in years. Only the most disengaged listener will fail to be moved by the song's beautiful composition and insights. After this climax, the Lips descend into a slow euphoria with the morose, yet comical, "All We Have Is Now and Approaching Pavonis Mons By Balloon (Utopia Planitia)," an exploration into electronic jazz that brings the album to an understated close.

Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots is a challenging reinvention of the rock genre that proves that not all musicians signed to major labels lack artistic daring and philosophical depth. After nearly twenty years in the music industry, the Flaming Lips have crafted their masterpiece. Though certainly not universally accessible, Yoshimi is experimentation with vision and purpose. Its a glimpse into the future of alternative rock and a rediscovery of its capacity to connect with the listener on the most profound level. In Coyne's disenchanted fables of machinery and nothingness, The Flaming Lips have found rock's soul.